In an energy-assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) system, a small spot where data is to be written is locally heated to reduce the coercivity of the magnetic grains therein for the duration of the write operation, thereby allowing materials with increased magnetic anisotropy to be used, and greater areal storage density to be exploited.
A disk head gimbal assembly (HGA) for an EAMR system includes an suspension that holds a slider with a transducer and a flex cable assembly coupled to the slider. For EAMR applications, the HGA further includes a sub-mount coupled to a heat sink coupled to the suspension. The sub-mount comprises a near field transducer (NFT) to concentrate optical energy in the near field to dimensions smaller than the diffraction limit. The HGA further includes a laser diode coupled to the sub-mount and the suspension.
Solder jet bonding may be used during fabrication of EAMR HGAs. Typically, access to multiple sides of the HGA is needed to bond all the EAMR components. For example, access to the trailing edge of the slider may be needed for connecting the flex cable assembly to the slider and access to the back side of the HGA may be needed for connecting the sub-mount to a heat sink and connecting the laser diode to the sub-mount.
FIGS. 1A and B illustrate a conventional carrier 100 for fabricating HGAs 104. The carrier 100 comprises a non-adjustable bar 101, and a row of mounting locations 102—for example, a row of pins that fit in holes in the suspensions of HGAs 104. A clamp bar 103 retains and aligns the HGAs 104 on mounting locations 102.